An Inconvenient Letter by Julie Wright

I was fortunate enough to receive this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy via Edelweiss. I have never read anything by Julie Wright, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Here's the synopsis of An Inconvenient Letter.​

Synopsis

For years, Marietta Stone has harbored a secret infatuation for the handsome Frederick Finch and has poured out her deepest feelings in a series of passionate love letters that she keeps in a locked drawer. But when Marietta’s private letters are accidentally delivered to Frederick’s house, she must retrieve them immediately before they fall into the wrong hands. If the letters were read by anyone else, the resulting scandal could jeopardize her reputation.
Gerard Hartwell has no time for infatuations, courtship, or even love. He must find a wife with a substantial inheritance if he wishes to save his late father’s bankrupt estate. When he accidentally discovers Marietta’s love letters at his cousin Frederick’s estate, he strikes a bargain with her. If she helps him court her older sister, Anne, he will return the letters and help Marietta win Frederick’s heart.
Marietta agrees, and the two quickly pretend to be courting in order to spend time with their individual love interests. Yet, what appeared to be a straightforward bargain becomes complicated when Gerard realizes that the more time he spends with Marietta, the more he wishes he could court her for real. But can he persuade Marietta to give him a chance when her heart might belong to another man?

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General Thoughts

Let me start off by saying this book was remenescent of Pride & Prejudice, Doctor Thorne, Bridgerton, and To All the Boys. I was initially very concerned with the similarities with the Bridgerton series, I didn't want another book riddled with sex scenes. However, I didn't have to be worried, as there were no explicit scenes in this book... Thank God!
​I felt like the author did a good job of making the flow of the book feel like something written by Jane Austen. There were a few turns of phrases that made the reading more immersive to that era, even when it wasn't dialogue. 
I felt the story was nicely thought out and didn't leave me feeling dissatisfied. The only instance of confusion for me, and it might be thanks to reading books As I was farely early in the story, there was a tidbit of information the author "put out there" that initially led me to believe that Anne intentionally sent our Etta's letters. It was on page 29. Anne and Etta are discussion how Freddie was never meant to see the letters and Anne asks why she addressed the letter if delivering it wasn't her intention. "How private could you have meant for them to be when you took the time to address them?" Her sister made an excellent argument. Etta did not recall addressing them. While reading this, along with a few moments of suspicious behavior on Anne's part, I was convinced for a percentage of the book that Anne had willfully and maliciously sent Etta's letters hoping to increase her odds in the upcoming season. 

Characters

Marietta Stone, known throughout the book as Etta, is a likeable character. She was very remeniscent of Elizabeth Bennet. She's her father's favorite, she doesn't excel at the things most women educate themselves with like the pianoforte or embroidering, instead taking focusing on her intelligence. Also like Elizabeth Bennet, she struggles with her pride a little, which is actually what gets her into the situation of fake dating Gerard in the first place. Rather than lose face infront of her friend's prejudice mother, and admit why she isn't attending the season in the city, she lies about her relationship status. 
While I like Etta, I don't necessarily see much character growth throughout the book on her part. I believe the only change we really see in her is a shift in her mentality towards Freddie. As her feelings for Gerard grow, she comes to believe that what she felt for Freddie, when she wrote the love letters the story is based around, wasn't love at all. Aside from that we also see her start to stand up for herself more... and by more I mean twice. First, when her mom is trying to force her to go to town for the season and then when Freddie refuses to give her back the letter she wrote him and she grabs it from him. I guess if you wanted to be technical, you could say she also is resolute when Gerard comes to talk to her at the end of the book, but I feel like she never had a problem setting boundaries or communicating with Gerard so it doesn't feel like part of that particular character arc. 

Gerard Hartwell is not remeniscent of Fritzwilliam Darcy. He is the one that has the massive obstacles to overcome, his families destitution at the forefront of that list. He is not capable to helping Etta the same way that Darcy helped Elizabeth. Personally, that felt like a feminist cop out... like we couldn't have the man save the woman, but instead we had to define the woman's value based on her rescuing the man. Power balance aside, I genuinely liked Gerard. I felt like he was more real that Etta. He had struggles, he made bad decisions, he had to humble himself to try and provide for others, and my favorite, he struggled with doing what he knew propriety demanded. During many of his interactions with Miss Bates, he would like to be rude and direct, but always chooses to do what is polite.
I feel like Gerard got a better character development than Etta. He has to overcome the burden of ownership of his late father's estate, which has been run into the group. Tenants are leaving left and right and he has hit a wall as to how he will be able to make the estate profitable. With the help of Etta, he is able to bring in new tenants and he puts in a lot of hardwork as opposed to depending on the dowery of some lady. (Though I do fill bad for his steward who originally suggested bringing in sheep as a solution and was promptly ignored haha)
My favorite moment in his development is when he has his big "AH HA" moment in regards to Etta. He originally wanted to pursue Anne, Etta's sister, because they were such good friends growing up. That stays consistent throughout the book, but as he is remenescing he regularly recalls good memories with Etta. Suddenly his steward talks about Gerard being in love with Etta. He has this train of thought where he is trying to convince himself that he is just good friends with Etta. But then he realizes that's the EXACT reason he wanted to pursue Anne, because he wanted a relationship that is built on friendship. And what better friend than Etta? I have never face-palmed myself so hard! I was like EXACTLY!! THANK YOU GERARD FOR GETTING WITH THE PROGRAM!!!

Freddie Fredericks is every screwed up guy in literature all combined into one! Okay that's a drastic overstatement. But trust me, he is AWFUL! Sticking with the theme of who he is remeniscent of, I would have to say he reminds me most of Louis Scatherd in Doctor Thorne. He is very self centered. However, like Louis, I feel like Freddie has rare moments where we see his humanity. I don't think it's necessarily enough to completely redeem him from his propensity to be a jerk, but it definitely adds a little bit of dimension to him. Honestly, I don't have much to say about Freddie because I feel like he is like every pretty boy that the "less than popular" girl has had a crush on. He knows he's pretty, he lords it over her, and then when he sees her affection being pulled in another direction, in a last stitch effort to control, he lays the charm on real thick.
Interestingly enough, I think the primarily issue I have with Freddie is also my favorite character quirk for him... his irritation, and insuing poor decisions, when he believes Gerard has faked his engagement to con him out of money. We don't see much thought to Freddie's character. Yet, when this happens we see how much this hurts him. Throughout the book he has openly offered Gerard a loan. He is very up front about this offer. However, when he things Gerard is trying to pull one over on not just everybody else, but Freddie as well, he feels betrayal. I'm glad the other gave Freddie this level of dimension, he needed something to give him another layer. I think this shows that while Freddie is frivolous in many of the other aspects and relationships in his life, when he chooses to be loyal to someone, he is all in or at the very least, expects the same level of loyalty in return.

Conclusion

I very much enjoyed this book, which is evident in the fact that I read it for a day and a half straight upon receiving it. I believe the author did a good job of taking classic and modern inspiration and creating a story that was enchanting. As I was reading I was constantly urging Gerard to rub his two brain cells together and realize he was in love with Etta, all the while I was screaming at Etta to stop second guessing herself.
​I look forward to reading more from Julie Write.

​Favorite Quotes

"The point of having an impressive dowry is to make me presentable with no effort on my part."
Is that my problem? I don't have a dowry to compensate for my lack of charm? 

"There is no rational reason behind irrational behavior."
I tell my niece and students this all the time. It brings me a lot of comfort when I want to bang my head up against a wall.

"Compassion is beauty."
I love the simplicity of this single quote. So true.

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"What is love if not a skill that must be practiced regularly?"
I think we forget this daily. Love isn't something we just know how to do naturally... well maybe it is, but life quickly seems to rob us of that skill. So we need to practice it daily.

"You saved me from the despair of a lifetime of loneliness."
This one makes me sad, but I think it'd be beautiful to have someone say that to their significant other. Just to remind them of their importance in your life.